A King On the Run: Psalms 141

¹ Lord, I call to you. Come quickly. 
       Listen to me when I call to you.
 ² Let my prayer be like incense placed before you, 
       and my praise like the evening sacrifice. 

 ³ Lord, help me control my tongue; 
       help me be careful about what I say. 
 ⁴ Take away my desire to do evil 
       or to join others in doing wrong. 
    Don’t let me eat tasty food 
       with those who do evil. 

 ⁵ If a good person punished me, that would be kind. 
       If he corrected me, that would be like perfumed oil on my head. 
       I shouldn’t refuse it. 
    But I pray against those who do evil. 
 ⁶ Let their leaders be thrown down the cliffs. 
       Then people will know that I have spoken correctly: 
 ⁷ ”The ground is plowed and broken up. 
       In the same way, our bones have been scattered at the grave.” 

 ⁸ God, I look to you for help. 
       I trust in you, Lord. Don’t let me die. 
 ⁹ Protect me from the traps they set for me 
       and from the net that evil people have spread.
 ¹⁰ Let the wicked fall into their own nets, 
       but let me pass by safely.

There are several themes coursing through this Psalm of David. Having some awareness of his “ups and downs” really helps. As a young man, he faced the giant Goliath, which was a very bold thing to do. He then also went on a killing spree that raised him to the rank of general. He was pretty much a lethal weapon. But very suddenly, King Saul got very paranoid, and David had to get out of town, really fast.

Commentary

V. 1 comes as an urgent cry. Often desperation will make us believers, and I think that instead of avoiding pain we should be embracing that which forces us to get on our knees.

V. 2 is a lesson. David knew he couldn’t return. He was in a wilderness. And yet he deeply wanted to replace his past worship with the best he could do out in the “boondocks.”

Vv. 3-4 is a realization for David. When we are deeply afflicted or stressed, we will say things we don’t really mean. Under duress, we start babbling and we can harm others with what we say. V. 4 is part of this Psalm that I want to pray for myself.

V. 5 is really about the role of the Church. It’s one thing to rebuke or exhort another, but what about the recipient? We need that hungry eagerness for correction, and love the wealth that comes to us as we grab a hold of a hard word.   To be in this place, can be hard, and yet wonderful.  (see Prov. 29:1; 1Tim. 5:20)

Vv. 6-7 are hard verses. The verses in the beginning are clear and thoughtful. The commentaries I looked at don’t agree. But they are “imprecatory” in nature. That means they pronounce judgement. And I suppose since the Psalms are “songs, prayers and spiritual songs” they are composed of metaphor, figurative language, and simile. It can be a harrowing experience trying to read in a literal/logical way.

Vv. 8-10 shows us that sincere poetic sense. David realizes that there are traps and nets, and these could be real I suppose, but my thinking is they are figurative. Today, we might think, booby traps or land mines, but these are not literal, but they are quite real. The enemy certainly can harm us in a figurative sense, but he insists that we face him in other ways.

This Psalm is a true beauty among all other psalms. It is authentic and heart-focused. I invite you to read and learn why the Holy Spirit has decided to keep for you. I’m very sure it will be quite amazing.

Related articles

• When The Fear Gets Too Much: Psalms 143 (psalmslife.com)
• Welcome to Psalms Life (psalmslife.com)
• Something Way Beyond Worship: Psalm 59 (psalmslife.com)